COMMENTARY
The Red Sox officially announced their deal with the Dodgers on Monday night, roughly 12 hours before pitchers and catchers were due in Fort Myers for the start of spring training — and, simultaneously, the start of a new era in team history.
The baseball operations department is under new leadership. The new field manager, Ron Roenicke, is interim for now. And the organization’s pride and joy of Boston’s player development system, who became a perennial MVP threat as a big leaguer, now plays for Los Angeles.
As the details were sorted through over recent days, and a reworked deal was finalized, the pundits have widely acknowledged the rarity of a big-budget team trading away a player of Mookie Betts’s age and ability.